Welfare, Children, and Families: A Three-City Study (ICPSR 4701)

Principal Investigator(s):
Angel, Ronald, University of Texas-Austin. Population Research Center;
Burton, Linda, Pennsylvania State University. Population Research Institute;
Chase-Lansdale, P. Lindsay, University of Chicago. Population Research Center;
Cherlin, Andrew, Johns Hopkins University. Hopkins Population Center;
Moffitt, Robert, Johns Hopkins University. Hopkins Population Center

Summary:

This data collection is the third wave of an intensive study in Boston, Chicago, and San Antonio, which was initiated to assess the well-being of low-income children and families in the post-welfare reform era. The project investigates the strategies families have used to respond to reform, in terms of employment, schooling or other forms of training, residential mobility, and fertility. Central to this project is a focus on how these strategies affect children's lives, with an emphasis on their health and development as well as their need for, and use of, social services. For the first wave of the study, between March 1999 and December 1999, a random sample of approximately 2,400 households with children in low-income neighborhoods in Boston, Chicago, and San Antonio were selected for interviews. Forty percent of the families interviewed were receiving cash welfare payments at the time of the interview. Each household had a child aged 0 to 4 or aged 10 to 14 at the time of the interview. The child and the child's primary female caregiver are the focus of the study. Extensive baseline information was gathered at the initial personal interview with the caregivers, tested younger children were assessed, and older children were interviewed. All interviews were conducted in-person using a computerized instrument. The third wave of data collection took place between February 2005 and January 2006, when the focal children were aged 5 to 10 or aged 15 to 20. Between May 2005 and May 2006, interviews were conducted with the teachers of the focal children.

This data collection is the third wave of an intensive study in Boston, Chicago, and San Antonio, which was initiated to assess the well-being of low-income children and families in the post-welfare reform era. The project investigates the strategies families have used to respond to reform, in terms of employment, schooling or other forms of training, residential mobility, and fertility. Central to this project is a focus on how these strategies affect children's lives, with an emphasis on their health and development as well as their need for, and use of, social services. For the first wave of the study, between March 1999 and December 1999, a random sample of approximately 2,400 households with children in low-income neighborhoods in Boston, Chicago, and San Antonio were selected for interviews. Forty percent of the families interviewed were receiving cash welfare payments at the time of the interview. Each household had a child aged 0 to 4 or aged 10 to 14 at the time of the interview. The child and the child's primary female caregiver are the focus of the study. Extensive baseline information was gathered at the initial personal interview with the caregivers, tested younger children were assessed, and older children were interviewed. All interviews were conducted in-person using a computerized instrument. The third wave of data collection took place between February 2005 and January 2006, when the focal children were aged 5 to 10 or aged 15 to 20. Between May 2005 and May 2006, interviews were conducted with the teachers of the focal children.

Guidelines for Applying for Restricted Data

ICPSR offers two methods of accessing the restricted-use data from this study:

secure dissemination of the microdata

remote access to the microdata via ICPSR's Virtual Data Enclave (VDE)

Which Method Should You Choose?

Applicants with a terminal degree (e.g., PhD, MD, DrPH, JD, etc) in a social science field and an appointment at a research institution are likely to
be able to access the data via secure dissemination. Most other applicants will need to access these restricted-use data via the VDE.

Information to Help You Complete Your Request

Applicants should be prepared to provide the following:

Project description supporting need to access the data

IRB document (approval or exemption)

Data Use Agreement signed by the Investigator and a legal representative of the institution

Secure Dissemination: DUA is available within the request system

VDE: DUA is emailed to requester after request is initiated

Data security plan

Secure Dissemination: created within the request system

VDE: In DUA as Attachment A

Roster of research staff who will access the data; may need to include IT staff able to view the data or access the computer where the data are hosted

This data collection may not be used for any purpose other than statistical reporting and analysis. Use of these data to learn the identity of any person or establishment is prohibited. To protect respondent privacy, all data files in this collection are restricted from general dissemination. To obtain these restricted files, researchers must agree to the terms and conditions of a Restricted Data Use Agreement. Part 24 is enclave-only, and may only be accessed on-site at ICPSR.

Any public-use data files in this collection are available for access by the general public.
Access does not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution.

Dataset(s)

WARNING: Because this study has many datasets, the download all files option has been suppressed, and you will need to download one dataset at a time.

WARNING: This study is over 150MB in size and may take several minutes to download on a typical internet connection.

Universe:
Families with incomes less than 200 percent of the government poverty line living in Boston, San Antonio, and Chicago.

Data Type(s):
survey data

Data Collection Notes:

The teacher interview data are restricted and available only onsite through the ICPSR Data Enclave.

Methodology

Sample:
Between March 1999 and December 1999 a random sample of approximately 2,400 households with children in low-income neighborhoods in Boston, Chicago, and San Antonio were interviewed. Forty percent of the families interviewed were receiving cash welfare payments at the time of the interview. Each household had a child aged 0 to 4 or aged 10 to 14 at the time of the interview.

Extent of Processing: ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of
disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major
statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to
these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:

Performed consistency checks.

Standardized missing values.

Performed recodes and/or calculated derived variables.

Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.

Version(s)

Original ICPSR Release: 2007-08-17

Version History:

2012-10-04 The codebook and documentation for Parts 1, 2, and 3 were made restricted. The codebooks for Parts 5 and 6 were updated, specifically to revise the titles for each codebook.

2009-02-10 Added enclave-only data in the form of teacher surveys.

2008-10-13 SAS and Stata syntax files have been added that convert variable names in data files from previous waves to variable names that are consistent with the data files that ICPSR has released.

2008-07-08 Public and restricted versions are now available for Wave 1 and Wave 2.

2008-07-03 SPSS syntax files added that convert variable names in data files from previous waves to variable names that are consistent with the data files that ICPSR has released.

2007-11-06 Public versions are now available for the three restricted data versions previously released: Focal Child Interview Data, Continuing and New Caregiver Interview Data, and Separated Caregiver Interview Data. The primary investigator also deposited two datasets that include additional child age information detail.